Who Owns Dove?
Direct Answer: Who Owns Dove
Dove is owned by Unilever. The Dove beauty and personal-care brand forms part of the Unilever group, and Unilever continues to list Dove among its major Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care brands. Unilever’s 2025 Annual Report also identifies Dove as one of its Power Brands.
For UK consumers, the simple answer is therefore that Dove’s parent company is Unilever PLC. However, different Unilever companies can appear when you check trademarks, websites and corporate records, so the legal structure is slightly more detailed than the consumer-facing answer suggests.
Dove sits within a much wider portfolio of personal-care and beauty products. You can compare the ownership of similar businesses in our beauty brand owners guide or browse the wider brand ownership database.
Ownership Structure Explained
Dove brand owner and parent company
At group level, Unilever is the company behind Dove. Unilever’s own UK brand directory lists Dove as one of its brands, while its corporate reporting includes Dove across its Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care businesses.
The ultimate corporate parent is Unilever PLC, an English public company and the parent company of the Unilever Group. This means Dove is not an independently owned beauty business and is not controlled by a single individual owner. It forms part of the wider Unilever corporate group.
Dove itself dates back to 1957, when the brand launched in the United States with its Beauty Bar. Today it extends across categories including skin cleansing, deodorants, hair care and other personal-care products.
Who owns the Dove trademarks?
The brand owner, trademark owner and ultimate parent company do not always have to be the same legal entity.
Current UK records show that Dove-related intellectual property can be held through Unilever Global IP Limited. For example, a 2025 UK Intellectual Property Office entry for the DOVE SERUM+ trade mark names Unilever Global IP Limited as the applicant.
Unilever Global IP Limited is an active UK private company whose stated business includes the leasing of intellectual property. Companies House records identify Unilever PLC as its person with significant control, with ownership of at least 75% of its shares and voting rights and the right to appoint or remove directors.
That distinction matters. Saying that a particular Dove trademark is registered to Unilever Global IP Limited does not mean Dove has stopped being a Unilever brand. It means intellectual-property rights can be held by a specialist company inside the same corporate group.
Individual Dove marks should still be checked separately because trade mark registrations can cover different names, logos, product categories and territories.
Who operates Dove in the UK?
A UK-facing consumer may also encounter Unilever UK Limited.
Dove’s legal notice identifies Unilever UK Limited in connection with control of its website for UK users. Companies House confirms that Unilever UK Limited is an active English company.
This illustrates why ownership searches can produce several different company names:
Dove is the consumer brand. Unilever is the corporate group behind it. Unilever PLC is the group’s parent company. Unilever Global IP Limited can hold Dove-related intellectual property, while Unilever UK Limited can perform UK operating functions.
These companies are connected, but their legal roles should not be treated as identical.
How to Verify the Information
Ownership can change through acquisitions, disposals, corporate reorganisations or transfers of intellectual property, so current records should be checked when the exact legal position matters.
Start with Unilever’s official corporate and brand information. Its UK brand directory currently lists Dove, while its annual reporting provides evidence that Dove remains part of Unilever’s portfolio.
Next, check Companies House when you need to establish how a UK legal entity fits into the group. The government service provides company status, registered details, officers, filings and control information where applicable.
For trademarks, use the UK Intellectual Property Office search service. GOV.UK specifically allows users to search trade marks by number, owner, keyword, phrase or image and to identify the registered proprietor.
When checking Dove, pay attention to the exact record. A trademark registration tells you who owns that particular registered mark; it does not necessarily identify the ultimate parent company behind the whole brand.
The strongest ownership check therefore combines corporate records, official brand information and relevant trademark registrations rather than relying on only one source.
Common Misunderstandings
One common mistake is to assume that Unilever PLC must appear as the legal owner on every Dove-related document. Large corporate groups often use subsidiaries to hold intellectual property or carry out local operating functions. A subsidiary name on a trademark or website therefore does not automatically indicate a separate ultimate owner.
Another mistake is to treat a retailer as the Dove owner. Supermarkets, chemists, online marketplaces and other retailers can sell Dove products without owning the brand.
The same applies to manufacturers, distributors or commercial partners. Being involved in making, distributing or selling a Dove product does not by itself establish legal ownership of the Dove brand.
It is also important not to confuse shareholders in Unilever with direct ownership of Dove. Unilever PLC is a publicly traded company with multiple shareholders. Those investors own shares in the listed company; they do not individually hold the Dove brand or its trademarks simply because they own Unilever shares.
Finally, the answer can depend on what somebody means by “owner”. If the question is who owns Dove as a consumer brand, the answer is Unilever. If the question concerns the proprietor of a specific UK Dove trademark, the relevant UK IPO record should be checked.
Related Ownership Guides
If you want to see where Dove fits within the wider group, explore our guide to brands owned by Unilever.
For a broader explanation of how to trace a consumer name back to its corporate group, use the brand parent company lookup. If you have another product or company name and do not yet know who sits behind it, start with who owns this brand.
You can also compare Dove with another major personal-care brand in our guide to who owns Head & Shoulders.
FAQs
Who owns Dove in the UK?
Dove is part of the Unilever group. Unilever’s UK website lists Dove among its brands, and Unilever’s corporate reporting continues to identify Dove as a major brand within its portfolio.
What is Dove’s parent company?
The ultimate corporate parent behind Dove is Unilever PLC, the parent company of the Unilever Group.
Is Dove owned by Unilever UK Limited?
The clearest group-level answer is that Dove is owned by Unilever. Unilever UK Limited is a UK operating company within the wider organisation and appears in Dove’s UK-facing legal information, but that should not be confused with the ultimate parent company, Unilever PLC.
Who owns the Dove trademark?
There are multiple Dove-related trademark registrations, so the exact mark and jurisdiction need to be checked. UK IPO records show Dove-related marks registered or applied for in the name of Unilever Global IP Limited, a company controlled by Unilever PLC.
Is the company selling Dove products always the owner?
No. A retailer, distributor, manufacturer or licensee can sell or handle Dove products without owning the underlying brand or trademarks. Ownership should be checked through corporate records and relevant intellectual-property registrations.
How can I check who owns Dove?
Check Unilever’s official brand and investor information first, then use Companies House for relevant UK companies and the UK Intellectual Property Office trade mark search for individual Dove marks. This helps separate the brand owner, parent company, operating company and trademark proprietor.
Can Dove’s ownership change?
Yes. Brands and intellectual-property rights can be sold, transferred or reorganised between companies. Current official records should therefore be checked rather than assuming an older ownership statement is still correct.
For another ownership search, use the WhoOwns brand ownership database to find the relevant company, parent group or verification route.